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A U T H O R S Kirstin Linnenkoper, Martijn Reintjes
Sanjay Mehta (India)
Metal recycler and recycling industry
ambassador. In his role as president of
the Material Recycling Association of India, Mehta
has recently addressed the trade body’s growing
concerns about the e-scrap mountain in his country
and the lack of a proper collection and recycling
infrastructure. India is the third-largest producer of
e-scrap after China and the US and more than 95%
of this waste is handled by what is often called ‘the
informal sector’.
Teng Shen (UK)
Driven by China’s scrap import ban,
Chinese investors have been developing
new scrap processing plants elsewhere in South
East Asia and in North America and Europe. Teng
founded Oso Polymers, based in Leeds, and
gained a reputation for being the UK’s first
Chinese-owned recycling operation. The pellets
produced in Leeds are shipped to China to make
new plastics. Establishing OSO Polymers to manu-
facture pellets in the UK was an obvious develop-
ment: ‘We saw the opportunity because China shut
the market.’
Elin Beate Saltkjel (Norway)
When it comes to sustainable ship recy-
cling, Saltkjel is the one to talk to.
Thanks to her background in marine technology,
she has a practical understanding of modern ves-
sels. At Grieg Green, she became a specialist in life
cycle assessments, hazardous waste analysis and
legislation. Her expertise has assisted many recy-
clers to find the right partner to scrap decommis-
sioned ships. This vision helped her team win the
World Maritime Forum’s 2022 Environment
Protection Award.
Dotan Kabak and Dan Halman
(Israel)
These gentlemen are behind the EUR 7
million Electra Recyling facility to start production
in the second half of 2022 at Sredot in the south of
Israel. The facility is to process fridges and aircons
and is seen as a project that Israel has been waiting
for because it lacks a modern infrastructure for
fridge and aircon recycling. With a population over
nine million, some 300 000 fridges and 700 000 air-
cons are sold every year. ‘We have long and hot
summers so you need air conditioners in homes
and offices – everywhere. On average, every house-
hold has three units.’
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Riva Tulpule (UAE)
This 15-year-old influencer proves that you can make an
impact at any age. Tulpule launched an e-scrap collection
project with EnviroServe and recovered 25 tonnes in 2020 and 2021.
Eager to declutter when she moved into a new home four years ago,
she rallied friends and family members to donate old mobile phones,
laptops and other equipment for recycling. That collective effort
racked up more than 2 000 used devices. She reached out to
EnviroServe, which processes around 40 000 tonnes of e-scrap annu-
ally, to spread the recycling message. Her efforts as ‘young change
maker’ earned her the Princess Diana 2020 Award.
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Leonardo Gasparini (Brazil)
Gasparini runs the start-up SunR, which
specialises in recycling end-of-life solar
panels. The ceo wants to put Brazil on the map
when it comes to the proper handling of photovol-
taic systems. ‘I read market reports predicting that,
in 30 years, Brazil will be the biggest PV waste gen-
erator in Latin America. This means we have to do
something today.’ SunR has processed 30 tonnes
of discarded solar panels since launching its recy-
cling services in 2020 and Gasparini expects to hit
125 tonnes by the end of the year. The potential is
great, he says, putting the market value of the
material of installed capacity at EUR 17 million.
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